"Messages are pouring in from all over the world," a friar said in a statement

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Monks who were raising money to repair an ancient basilica in central Italy by brewing beer destroyed there found the structure "flattened" in last week's earthquake, NBC News reported.

The Basilica of St. Benedict in Norcia was destroyed in the strongest earthquake to hit the country in over three decades, said the Monks of Norcia Sunday.

"The entire monastic community is together again at our mountain monastery which overlooks a now fractured Norcia," said a statement signed by Fr. Benedict on their monastery's website. "Messages are pouring in from all over the world."

The monks weren't available for comment when NBC News reached out on Monday. Three American monks took over the monastery in 2000, starting a brewing business to raise funds for repairs for the facility.